


The Timeline: Gerard Way's Life

by severelydorky



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: F/M, Fanfiction, Science Fiction, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-08 02:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1923090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/severelydorky/pseuds/severelydorky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Let's say you were transported through time into the past with a time-traveling 1967 Chevy Impala, and you run into one of the most legendary men ever, Gerard Way, at not just one, but multiple points in his life. What would you do? I know what I would do, because it happened to me. The year was 2066, just soon after Gerard's death, and that's when my adventure started...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 2066

        I was fifteen years old when Gerard Way died. He died at the tragically old age of 89, but in the end his life was good. He had lived a great life and had a long career in his two passions: music and art. His wife Lindsey had died the year prior, so Bandit as well as Mikey were taking it hard, but they were strong, especially Bandit. For that, her parents would have been so proud.

        When I found all this out, I was in school. I was sitting by myself for a change outside in the courtyard when I got a notification on my iPad 80 that he had passed away. Next to the article was a couple pictures of him: one from around 2008 when he was in one of his primes, later on when he was a little older, and one from right before he passed. I was heartbroken, but not like my mom. My mom was a fan of his music back when My Chemical Romance was still a band for the first time. She loved him. She even said that when she met him the first time, it was one of the best days ever. I felt bad for my mom, because she looked up to him so much.

        My dad was a fan of Gerard’s as well. My mom met my dad while she was at a party and she asked him why they wouldn’t play good music like MCR and my dad was immediately interested in her. They were young, but it ended up being the best marriage I’ve seen to date. My dad was working in the Time and Space Development Agency, a new addition to government research in 2037, when he found out, and I knew that I’d have to face him in an emotional state since I was going to meet him at work after school.

        I tried to tell my friends about it, because I had exposure to his music and art and he was an influence for me, as was Lindsey, Bandit, the other guys from MCR, and other “pop punk” bands of the 2000s and 2010s. They didn’t listen to me because they were more concerned that Miley Cyrus was releasing ANOTHER studio album even though “she has more wrinkles than an unsteamed shirt”.

        I walked over to Dad’s work, used my key card to get it, and met him in his lab. He had his head down on the table like he dropped himself and left it there.

        “Umm, Dad?” I asked, “Are you okay?” My dad sat up abruptly and began singing, “I’M NOT OKAAAAAAAYYYY, I’M NOT OKAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY, YOU WEAR ME OOOOOUUUUUT!” I knew that my dad wasn’t okay, so I patted his back and told him that I was here for him.

        “Thanks Sweetheart,” he said finally facing me. He wiped an emerging tear from his eye and continued, “How was school?”

        “Sucky,” I replied. “Everyone was more preoccupied with other stuff to care about the death of a legend.” As soon as I said the word “death”, I saw my dad try not to well up again.

        “I agree,” he started, “Teenagers suck, don’t they?” He flashed me his famous ear-to-ear grin that my mom said she loved most. I decided then that that was my opportunity to be clever.

        “You know,” I began with a wide grin, “teenagers scare the living shit out of me, because they could care less as long as someone will bleed.” I smirked when my dad caught on.

        He came over to me from out of his chair and told me most sincerely, “I’d say you should darken your clothes,” and then when standing in the most odd fashion, “Or strike a violent pose, because y’know, they might leave you alone, but most certainly not me.”

        We giggled at our little achievement. “Good thing we raised you right,” my dad remarked. After he sat back down to wrap up his work, I looked behind him to see the most magnificent piece of my dad’s work: the time machine.

        This time machine has been proven to work even though it was still just a prototype, and it was a hit in international news. It was a HUGE deal last month, and it still is, but the excitement has died down marginally. I noticed that it had changed since the last time I had come to my dad’s office.

        “You changed the machine,” I pointed out to my dad, who was absorbed in paperwork. He looked up from his desk and immediately popped up when he saw that I was approaching it. It was his _baby_.

        “We mostly did exterior changes,” he said nonchalantly. “Like those new fluffy seats! Go ahead and sit and tell me what you think.” I did the whole “wait me?” gesture and my dad insisted so I climbed in carefully. For the most part, the machine looked like a 1967 Chevy Impala, because it was my dad’s coworker’s, Greg’s, favorite classic car, but the modifications obviously allowed it to travel through space and time as well as from one street to the next. My pops shut the door so that I was sitting in the driver’s seat.

        All of a sudden, lights began to flash on the dashboard, and an alarm of sorts was going off on the car, the doors locked, and I began to panic. Though, I was not panicking to the same extent that my dad was. He tried to find out what the issue was, but nothing was right. My dad knew then and there that it was going to travel through time though he didn’t know when exactly. He ran to his desk and threw in a probe of sorts into my lap through the window.

        “This will help you get money and such,” he told me quickly. He then threw in a backpack that he had by the car. “This has essentials and a manual. Try to get back to this time as soon as you can. I love you!”

        Before I could even say “Wait what?” I had moved.


	2. What year was it?

I was in a neighborhood. I didn’t know where I was, or when it was, so I was worried. Thank goodness I had my learner’s permit so that I could actually drive the car. It could only drive like a regular car because it had used so much energy to travel through time. I drove to the main road and went a ways until I saw a sign that led me to believe that I was a mile away from Belleville, New Jersey. Why the hell would be going on here?

I pulled into town and found a parking spot outside of a diner, and I walked in and sat at the counter. When a waitress came up to me asking what I’d want, I asked for directions to a garage to park my “car”. She was a little pissed off that I wasn’t ordering anything, but she told me that there was one a few blocks away, close to Belleville High School. I thanked her and left a fifteen-dollar bill on the counter. I’m not so sure that that was a good idea looking back on it because there were no fifteen-dollar bills back when I was and it had President Obama’s face on it. But, then again, I didn’t know what year it was.

I pulled into the garage, and some guy working there immediately came out to meet me because of the car. It was most certainly a cool car, but I never understood the whole car obsession thing. Anyway, I got out and gave this man, Billy, who I assumed was the owner of Billy’s Garage, the keys. I wasn’t too worried about this because the car had to recharge for a maximum of 72 hours before it was able to move through time again.

I got out of the car with my probe, which I had tucked into my backpack, and I walked out towards the school. As I was leaving, I noticed a little boy, who must’ve been Billy’s son, no more than three, saying, “That’s my favorite car Daddy!” to which Billy replied, and “That’s fantastic Greg. It’s a great car.”

I looked at a large clock that was outside the school building and it read 2:45 PM. Not a second later, the bell within the school rang and students began to flood out through the doors into the open air. Some of the groups of students were stereotypical like from those SUPER old John Hughes movies, but it was cool to see all these people not completely plugged into phones and tablets.

Then I noticed a group of maybe three boys walk out and down the steps of the building, and one of their faces was so familiar to me. I don’t know what part of my brain willed me to do this, but I had the greatest urge to go over and talk to him. I quickly walked toward this group of guys my age and approached them.

They were slightly startled that a girl was coming up to speak to them, but the one with the familiar face said, “Hi, can we help you?” His voice was nice, but obviously confused. After staring for an inappropriate amount of time, I managed, “Oh yeah! Hi.” I decided right then I was going to fake a story and a name just to get by for the next three days. “I’m a new student here, a transfer, and I don’t know really know my way around town. Do you think one of you could help me?”

They all looked at each other for a moment and the familiar faced one smiled and said, “Of course! I can help.” The other guys were slightly less smiley and inviting, but to be honest, I think they were somewhat scared of me. The familiar one turned to his guys and told them that he’d meet up with them tomorrow, to which they were okay with turning and putting as much distance as possible between them and me.

“If you have time, I have to go pick up my brother from school which isn’t too far away. Do you want to walk with me?” This boy’s inviting nature made it impossible for me to refuse, so I agreed.

As we started down the sidewalk (they had sidewalks, not solar panels, so it was a pretty long time ago) he struck up conversation. “So, what’s your name?” he first asked. “Oh umm,” I stuttered. I had to come up with something. “I’m, uh, Hannah Christiansen,” I finally managed. I don’t know where THAT name came from, but whatever worked was good with me. “How ‘bout you?” I replied.

“My name’s Gerard Way. It’s nice to meet you,” the boy said sticking out his hand to be shaken.

I stopped dead in my tracks. That’s why his face was so familiar! But he was so young. I had to figure out what year it was already. Gerard noticed that I stopped walking, so he asked, “Are you okay?”

I almost busted out into “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”, but I held it in. I finally shook his hand and said, “Yes, I’m fine. It’s very nice to meet you.” We continued down the sidewalk, and he made friendly conversation. The only issue was that I had to make up answers on the spot and it was GERARD FUCKING WAY. I was able to answer such questions as, “Where are you from?” “Why did you move here?” “What grade are you in?” “Do you know anyone here yet?” to which the last one I replied, “I know you now,” and he grinned.

As we approached the elementary school, Gerard turned toward me and said, “We’ll be getting my brother Mikey who’s in 5th grade.” I nodded an okay, even though I was secretly dying on the inside from all that was happening, and we continued. We stood together about 50 feet from the school’s entrance and watched as little kids flooded out in a similar fashion to the high school. Finally, a boy started to run towards us and attack-hugged Gerard.

“Hey Mikey,” Gerard began, “How was school?” to which Mikey replied, “It was awesome! In science class, the frog leaped out of the cage and the teacher ran around the room to catch it!” “Sounds like fun!” Gerard added.

Mikey noticed that I was there with his big brother and turned to me with slight confusion. “Who are you?” he asked blatantly. Gerard replied for me, saying, “This is Hannah, I met her at school today.” Mikey was okay with this, so he stated simply, “Cool.”

We continued down the pavement with Mikey a few paces ahead. So far, this day couldn’t be better. That was until I noticed it was becoming darker and I didn’t have anywhere to spend the night. When we got to the Way household, Mikey ran inside. Gerard and I stopped.

“You oughta go in and be with your family, I guess I should go,” I said. I didn’t want to go, but I had to because it was probably best. But Gerard shook his head. “C’mon, I want you to have dinner with us. It’ll be fun.” “Gerard,” I said, which was odd to say really, “I can’t intrude, that’s not right. Plus I’ve only just met you.” But Gerard didn’t care, so he took me by the hand and brought me inside.

He slammed the door behind us and bellowed, “I’M HOME!” A woman who I believed to be his mother came out and said, “Yes, I am fully aware,” whilst cleaning out an ear. She eventually noticed my presence and turned to Gerard to ask, “Who’s this?”

Gerard looked at me briefly before stating simply, “This is my friend, Hannah, and I met her at school today. I told her she could have dinner with us. Is that okay?” Ms. Way looked a little bit frustrated with her oldest son, but she happily replied, “I wish you would have told me sooner, but I guess it’s okay, as long as it’s okay with her parents.” I nodded to show my parents’ approval, though they had no idea as to where I was, and I was invited inside.


	3. 1992 (Part 1)

“Do you want to see my room?” Gerard asked right away. I nodded an okay, and he led me through the house. When he pulled me in, I recognized a few things. It was dark, which I expected after seeing various interviews. Gerard also had a ton of stuff in his room. He had obviously made it his own.

I sat on the edge of Gerard’s bed while he plopped his bag down beside his desk and himself into a chair. “So,” he started. “So,” I continued. “You’ve told me a bit about yourself,” Gerard added, “But I just don’t know what it is about you. You’re different, but not in a bad way. Different’s good, but it’s like you know something that you’ll never tell.” I was worried he caught on to who I was, but he shrugged and finished by saying, “I guess not, I dunno.”

I needed to say something, something that wasn’t a complete lie, because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Also, I kinda needed a place to stay. I knew exactly what I’d say. God, I am such a manipulative bitch sometimes. “Listen Gerard,” I began, “I actually am not going to attend your school. I didn’t move here from Hoboken, my dad didn’t get a job here, none of that was true.”

“Well, why did you lie?” Gerard looked somewhat hurt. “Is your name even Hannah?” I wasn’t going to answer that truthfully. I finally said, “Yes, I am Hannah, but… I’m homeless. I don’t have a place to stay other than my dad’s old car. We live together on the road. We are in town for a couple days because the car broke down. Well, I am at least. My dad went on ahead to the next town over to meet with some people.” These were also lies, but how else was I supposed to explain that I was leaving in a couple days because my time machine recharged and I need to get back to the year 2066? “I’m sorry for lying, but I was embarrassed.”

Gerard was taken aback. “Wow,” he breathed, “it’s okay, I understand. You don’t need to be embarrassed; it just makes things different now.” After a couple moments of silence he added, “If you want, you can sleep in my room in secret the next couple nights. I know that it may not seem kosher or whatever but if you want and if you need a place to stay, that’s fine.”

I was almost too willing to accept the offer. After agreeing on the arrangements, I finally asked the question that was bugging me since I got here. “Hey Gerard, what’s today’s date?” He nonchalantly replied, “September 25th, Friday.” But I needed more information than just that. “No, like, what year too.”

Gerard turned to face me. He must have thought I was insane, but then again, I was the time traveller. “Uh, it’s 1992? Where have you been?” he asked. I grinned inwardly because I’d been somewhere he couldn’t even imagine. “Oh, duh, yeah I knew that, sorry,” I replied nonchalantly.

He still thought I was slightly weird, but he returned to whatever he was working on atop his desk. I stood up to see that he broke out paper and colored pencils and various art supplies. He was drawing a character of sorts. I peered over his shoulder, and Gerard looked back at me for a moment.

“I’m just doodling,” he remarked while working. “It’s just a sketch, nothing special. At least, not yet.” It was magnificent in my eyes, and I told him so. “It’s amazing! You’re so talented.”

“Thanks,” he said fairly weakly. I don’t think he had too much confidence in himself. I sat back down on his bed in his dark room and decided that I was going to take my turn at interviewing him. “So Gerard,” I started, “I’ve spilled the beans in regards to me, so tell me about you.” Of course he didn’t know that I knew more about him than he did about himself. Honestly, that realization made me feel like a bit of a creeper. Actually, that made me feel like the biggest creeper ever.

Gerard stopped his work, and turned to me. He sighed heavily. “I don’t really know what to say,” he began. “I’m just some uncool kid with a sick taste in music and generally hates the world. There’s too much shit in the world, and sometimes I wonder what makes it worthwhile.” I had no idea he was gonna’ get existential on my ass. “But you know, there’s music and art and family and good stuff so I guess I’ll stick with life for a little longer.”

What did he mean by that?

I knew that Gerard had low points throughout his entire life, but he’s so young now, when I see him. How could he be so upset at everything? Then again, he hasn’t seen what the world was going to evolve into.

The only thing I could get out of me was, “Wow”. I managed to organize my thoughts somewhat and I formulated a proper sentence. “Gerard, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry or anything.”

Gerard quickly replied, “It’s no problem. I guess every teen has days where the world is utter shit and it doesn’t seem worth it. But, there are other days that are good and make it seem worthwhile. I dunno’.” Jesus fucking Christ, Gerard was so… deep, I guess.

“I feel the same,” I uttered after a moment. It was true. Life was shit sometimes, but I showed myself the better things that are worth it. As if on cue, Ms. Way called us down to eat.


	4. 1992 (Part 2)

To say the least, the dinner was slightly awkward and painful for me to sit through. I had absolutely nothing to say as if I didn’t speak the same language because I felt like an intruder in their home, especially because of my overwhelming amounts of knowledge on these people. I ate quietly and tried not to join in discussion, but it didn’t help that Gerard was trying to have the family get to know me. It was, or course, very nice of him, but because of my predicament, I didn’t want people to know TOO much. Then again, almost everything I’ve said has been a big fat lie so big that you’d be uncomfortable standing next to it in the elevator.

After dinner, I was allowed to stay for a little while. Gerard showed me more of his artwork, which was absolutely fantastic, and Mikey showed me some of his favorite bands, some of which also being my favorites. The only issue with that discussion was that I accidentally mentioned the name of songs that hadn’t existed in 1992 and wouldn’t exist for some time. I almost gave it all away but I managed to keep my identity in tact.

It got late enough in the day that I was told to go home. Ms. Way was extremely nice about it, but she essentially kicked me out. Before I left, Gerard came over to give me a huge hug, which was odd, considering I met the kid today. But he then whispered in my ear to come back at midnight and climb in through the window. That whole situation could be interpreted badly, but Gerard, though he was fifteen, was fairly innocent.

Being the extremely graceful person that I obviously am, I squeezed my way through the window and fell onto the floor of Gerard’s room with a sufficient thud that, thank goodness, didn’t wake anyone. “Hey,” Gerard whispered. “Hi,” I replied just as quietly. After my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I saw that Gerard had made a makeshift bed with a really thin fold-up mattress, a ton of blankets, and a couple pillows from his own bed. He had obviously put a ton of effort into this.

“Oh my god,” I said a little too loudly. “Thank you so much. I can’t even begin to explain how much this means to me.” Gerard grinned and replied, “Ah, it’s no problem. It’s my pleasure to do something good for someone who really needs it.” Holy fuck, Gerard is so amazing.

I got settled in the bed on the floor beside Gerard’s actual bed, and after I finally lay down to go to sleep I said a quick “good night Gerard” and turned away from his bed to face the wall. I didn’t want to talk to him. This whole thing was too weird for my liking. I mean, not even twenty-four hours ago, I was sitting in bio class learning about how scientists bred pigs to actually fly. Now I’m in the year 1992 with GERARD WAY. Where I’m from, he’s dead! … Wow, that sounds horrible, but it’s still true.

I think Gerard sensed that something was up. “Hey,” he uttered quietly, “Are you okay?” I heard him move and I think it was to sit up. “I know this whole thing is really odd and stuff, so I get it if you don’t want to stay.” That’s when I sat up.

“No, Gerard,” I said, “It’s fine, don’t worry, I’m just…” weirded out that I know more about you than you do and that I’m a time-traveller from the future and that I technically don’t even exist as of this year? “…Missing my dad a ton.” He believed me. “Oh okay, I’m sorry,” he whispered.

I got up and sat next to him on his bed. “No, seriously,” I said looking at him. He was staring at the floor. “I really appreciate this so much, you have no idea. I probably can’t thank you enough. You are such a good person, Gerard, and I think one day…” Be careful, ‘Hannah’. “…You’ll do something great.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Gerard said doubtfully. “I just find it hard to believe because I’m beginning to think that I’m not gonna make this world any better. Because it’s shit. The whole world is shit. I want to do something good with my life that will make a difference or something. I guess I’m starting to believe the guys who make fun of me. But they’re wrong, right?” I hoped it was a rhetorical question because I didn’t reply. “I don’t even know anything anymore.” He dropped his head into his hands and he said after a moment, “Fuck, I barely know you, but I’m pouring out all my problems… Again. Such a fucking idiot.”

I nudged his shoulder with mine. “Hey, c’mon,” I said encouragingly. “You aren’t an idiot. Those guys, whoever they are, are shit. I know what I’m talking about.” I really did. “You’re gonna be great if you aren’t already, and I’m pretty sure you are already.” Gerard kept holding his head in his hands and wouldn’t respond. Words were useless, so I used actions. I pulled him up and held him tight in a hug.

“Thank you,” Gerard said without breaking the hug. “I’m sorry that I’m such a mess.” I didn’t matter that this was Gerard Fucking Way anymore. He was just another boy with a crappy life. Little did he know that it’d be way better eventually (no pun intended), but at the moment, it wasn’t great. Who cares who he was?

I shut off my brain at that point and only let my heart and my guts make my decisions.

“Can I admit something?” Gerard asked, pulling away from the hug, to which I replied, “Yeah of course, anything.” Gerard paused a moment before turning to look at me right in the eyes. “When I saw you come up to me earlier today, I immediately thought you were the most amazing girl I’d ever seen. I wanted to know who you were right away because…” He paused. “I really like you. I know it’s lame and all, and now you’ll probably want to leave because you’re all grossed out and… I was trying to impress you and I thought maybe you’ll like me too but… I fucked up.” Everything about him from his voice to his face to his whole body fell.

“Hey, don’t, it’s okay,” I whispered gently. I felt the overwhelming need to be there to love and protect him from all the bad in the world, and I think I mistook that feeling for liking him back. Or did I like him back? Let’s say I’d forget who he’d become, which I did right then. Did I have feelings for him? Yes. At least, right then, I really did like him. I finally blurted out my feelings. “I really like you too, Gerard.”

Gerard sat up and looked me straight in the face. In one swift motion, he pulled my face into his hands and crashed his lips into mine. They were soft and loving, but they also were passionate. Once I had realized what was going on, I began to kiss him back. I wrapped my arms around him and we fit together perfectly. He kissed me for as long as we both could, and then we had to pull away to catch our breaths.

I breathed in deeply. I turned to look at Gerard in the eyes, but as soon as our eyes connected, he shifted his gaze to the floor. He struggled to find words. “I-I’m so sorry, I just…” he attempted.

“Don’t be sorry,” I said. “I meant it. As long as you did too-” He cut me off. “Of course!” he said. I smiled. “Well then,” I said simply.

I pulled Gerard in for another kiss, but this time it was deeper and with more feeling. Gerard pulled me down to lay with him on the bed, the whole time never breaking the kiss but to breathe. He had me lay on my back and he sat on my hips, straddling them with his legs. We kissed for forever, and it was perfect. I was like we were the only people in existence and nothing else mattered. Gerard then tugged his shirt off, and that’s when I faltered.

Did he mean… that? I couldn’t, there’s no way (no pun intended). I hadn’t ever before and I couldn’t for the first time now. He noticed that I was tense and asked, “Are you okay?”

I shook my head. “I can’t do sex. I’m sorry, but I can’t.” Gerard smiled even though I was extremely nervous. “That’s absolutely fine.” I was relieved at his response. He pulled his shirt back on and lay down beside me, holding me close. I nestled my head into his neck and he wrapped my arms around me. It was comforting and perfect and everything and ugh, words couldn’t describe it.

I began to remember everything in that moment. I remembered that I’d have to leave him, and that this, what I was doing, was just cruel. I hated myself. Gerard noticed I was becoming tense, and he asked, “Everything okay?” That’s when I broke down. I buried my face into his shoulder to hide my tears. “Hey, shhh,” Gerard said, comforting me. “It’s all right, remember? Just like you told me.”

“But it’s not,” I said sitting up. “I’m going to have to leave you. I’m the worst person ever for doing this to you. I can’t be with you forever and I’ll probably never see you again when I hit the road. I can’t believe how horrible I am.”

Gerard realized what we both didn’t want to admit. But he sat up and turned my shoulders so that I would face him. “I’m realizing now that this whole thing, whatever it is, wasn’t gonna last. I understand that you’ll have to leave and that I’ll have to stay. It sucks for both of us, but… can we just go with it in the moment? Can we just experience it while it exists and while it still can?”

I thought about this for a moment before Gerard began speaking again. “We’ll let this go on until you have to leave. We’ll make the best of it, okay? We’ll both be heartbroken but we’ll know that what we had was great. It'll be a happier ending.” I couldn’t say anything. I just nodded my head. Gerard finished with a simple, “Good,” and I lay back down beside him. He kissed my forehead, and I turned to kiss his cheek. I could taste the salt of a tear on his cheek. He had been crying, silently, but I couldn’t see it in the dark.

In the twenty minutes it took me to fall asleep in Gerard’s arms, I thought about all that had happened and how I’d have to get up early to avoid being seen by the rest of Gerard’s family. I guess the bed Gerard made was useless.


	5. 1992 (Part 3)

There wasn’t much light that could enter Gerard’s room, but the some that did shine through his windows woke me up. Gerard was still asleep, so I got up as gently as possible as to not wake him. I glanced at the digital clock on Gerard’s bedside table. 7:42 AM.

Oh shit.

It was kinda early, but not early enough. I quickly grabbed my shit and got ready to flop out of the window. But I couldn’t leave without at least a note. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil from Gerard’s desk and wrote:

“Gerard: It got to be too late in the morning for me to stay, but I want to meet up. How about the diner in town at noon? See you then. - xoH”

I clambered out the window and started to walk into town. The sun had risen, but only recently, so there were still shades of pink and orange threaded through the sky like brush strokes on a canvas. I looked back at Gerard’s house, specifically the window to his room. Just as I turned to look back, Gerard appeared at the window, and he smiled, waved, and nodded. He’d be there.

I decided to explore a little while I was in town because why not? There was a comic book store, with what were vintage comics to me, a music store with the most beautiful guitars I had ever seen, and some local drug store where I got some ibuprofen for my headache. A lot of stores were closed so I had to simply walk by them and look longingly. The walk took up the majority of my morning, and by the time 11:45 rolled its way around, I was ravenous. I hadn’t eaten breakfast, which is probably why I got that headache.

I strolled into the same diner as yesterday and sat myself into a booth and waited a little while before a waitress came over, and before she could even order, I blurted, “I’m waiting for someone.” I think she was slightly offended, so she walked away without saying anything.

At 11:58AM exactly, Gerard bounded through the diner doors and looked quickly to find where I was. When he found the booth I was in, he walked over quickly and sat down with a grin from ear to ear. “Hi,” he said rapidly and excitedly.

“Hello,” I said. My stomach then made an audible noise like that of a dying whale. I looked down, and I put a hand over my front. There was no way Gerard didn’t hear that. I knew for sure that he did because he tried and failed slightly at stifling a giggle. While I was whispering to my stomach to shut up, I heard Gerard ask from across the table, “Have you ordered yet?”

When I shook my head no, Gerard called over the waitress. Gerard asked me before ordering if it was okay if he picked, and because I was so hungry, that was fine with me. “Can we get two orders of chocolate waffles and two coffees to go please?” It took me a second to register what he said.

“Why to go?” I asked. Gerard smiled widely and replied, “I want to go somewhere nice to eat, not at this grubby diner.” I was slightly annoyed that I wouldn’t be eating as soon, but it was fine with me. I agreed with an “Okay, that sounds great.”

We got our food and left the diner, and Gerard lead the way down the sidewalk. He carried our food in the take out bag and his coffee in one hand, so at one point, I brushed my hand against his free one, and he understood right away what I meant. He gently held my hand entangled his fingers with mine. It created a swarm of butterflies in my stomach.

Eventually, we found ourselves in a local park. There were a couple of slight hills, and at the top of one, there was a spot that was shaded by the trees. That was exactly Gerard had us sit. He took off his jacket and had us sit on it. As well, we finally broke out the chocolate waffles. I practically inhaled mine, and suddenly, they had disappeared. I even made a confused face because the waffles had vanished. At that, Gerard just laughed.

“You make me so happy, and that’s why…” He trailed off. “What?” I asked after wiping my hands with a paper napkin. His face grew dark, and I understood what that meant. He continued what he was saying. “I was going to say that’s why I love you but that’s ridiculous and unreasonable.”

“No, Gerard, look at me,” I replied, forcing him with my hands to look at me in the eyes. My god, his eyes were such a warm and bright hazel, and I could’ve drowned in them. “Gerard, I love you, too. I understand that there’s going to be an end, and it’s going to be soon, but like you said, we have to live in the moment, okay?” I still didn’t think that Gerard believed me entirely, so I pulled him in for a kiss.

He began to kiss me back and run his hands through my hair. I gripped his hair as well, and he began to lay me as well as himself down on the ground. He held me close and broke the kiss for a moment. He looked me straight in the eyes with our faces in such close proximity. Sparks.

“That’s fine with me,” Gerard breathed. He brought his lips to mine for another kiss. It was warm, passionate, loving. It was like the world around us disappeared and the only people in the world were we. It was ridiculous and perfect.

After what felt like a mini infinity, we finally pulled away and sat up. We didn’t say anything to each other for a moment, so I pulled him in for a tight hug. He held me close and tight as well.

“Gerard,” I whispered while we were still embracing each other. “Yes?” he asked just as quietly. I pulled away and said, “I want you to know that you are important. Okay? Whenever you’re life goes down the shitter, you need to know that you are worth everything and that nothing can be so bad that you can’t go on. I know what it’s like to have feelings of completely hopelessness, and it’s so much worse than being sad. It sucks to say the least.” I paused. “I want you to think of me whenever you feel like this. If you remember me and what I said and how absolutely important you are to me in those times, then it won’t be so bad.” Gerard looked at the ground. “Does that sound okay, Way?” At that he giggled.

“Yeah, I guess that sounds okay,” he replied. “But will you think of me?” That was the stupidest question ever, and I told him so. “That is a ridiculous question Mr. Gerard Way because you should already know that I most absolutely will.” He grinned from ear to ear, and I could feel my face doing the same. He then kissed my forehead gently.

Gerard stood up and held out a hand to help me up. “C’mon, let’s stop sitting on our asses and go into town and do something fun,” Gerard declared. I grabbed Gerard’s hand and I pulled myself up with his help. “That sounds great to me,” I replied.

Gerard and I walked hand in hand into town. We stopped in all sorts of stores and small shops, some of which I walked past earlier but wasn’t able to go in. The last store that Gerard took me to was the comic book store. “I saw this place earlier, but I wasn’t able to go in,” I informed him. “Well then we HAVE to go in,” Gerard informed me.

It was probably the coolest store I’ve ever been to. I really loved comics, but in my time, it was hard to find a store like this with so many print comics because everything was digital. It was magnificent. Gerard walked through the aisles like it was his second home. He even said hi to the semi-creepy guy behind the counter like he was one of his best buddies.

Gerard came over and grabbed my hand. He pulled me to a shelf of comics and I knew exactly what they were when I saw them: The Watchmen series. “Have you read these?” Gerard asked. I almost blurted out that I had only seen the movie that wouldn’t be made for over a decade and a half, but instead I said, “I haven’t, no.” Gerard gasped theatrically on purpose.

“It is one of my FAVORITE series,” he said excitedly. I nodded slightly, and after a moment of just staring at the collection of books, Gerard grabbed the first issue in the Watchmen series and handed it to me. “Here,” he said. “I want to get this for you. First of all it’s a crime that you haven’t read these and also you can consider it to be a souvenir, okay?” But I shook my head.

“That’s too nice, Gerard, I can’t have you buy it,” I said trying to give it back to him, but he wouldn’t take it. “Oh c’mon,” he encouraged me. “It’s probably not even five bucks and it’s SO GOOD.” He smiled wide and I couldn’t help but give in.

We walked up to the register where the semi-creepy guy rung it up and put it in a thin paper bag. Together, Gerard and I left the store and walked to the street corner at the end of the block. I realized then that I had been here too long. I had spent too much time with Gerard, and if I spent any more, I was going to become too attached and I would never be able to leave him. I hated doing this to both me and him, but I decided there and then that now was the time to go. I hated myself, but it was unfair to everyone if I stayed. Except, of course, the two of us. Having made this decision, I had to find a way to get the car and leave.

I couldn’t really have Gerard in the car with me like, ever, so I decided to feign a phone call to my dad saying it was time to depart. “I need to call my dad,” I told Gerard, at which he gave me a couple coins for a payphone. (Payphones were in museums in 2066, so it was kinda odd seeing one.)

I walked away from Gerard, and he was willing to give me privacy. I put the coins in the machine and dialed the operator. I asked for the Way residence, and after five rings, someone picked up. “Hello?” the voice asked. I could tell right away that it was Mikey. “Hey, Mikey,” I said, “It’s Hannah, I just wanted to say that I have to leave town and that it was really nice meeting you.”

“Oh okay,” Mikey said kinda awkwardly, “that’s cool. Nice to meet you, too.” There was an uncomfortable pause of complete silence, so I broke it by saying, “Okay, well, bye.” Mikey cleared his throat and said, “Yeah, okay, bye."

I walked back over to Gerard genuinely sad because I knew that this was the end. “I-I have to go,” I stuttered. Gerard’s eyes fell to his feet. We were both expecting it, but it still was so upsetting. “But,” I continued, “We can walk to get my car still.” At that, Gerard nodded and grabbed my hand to hold. We then started toward the garage.

I got the car from Billy and pulled it out onto the side of the road. I got out of the car and met Gerard for the last time. We stood face to face in silence while looking at each other in the eyes, and I was doing a poor job of holding in tears. Eventually, I hugged him, tight and warm, and he hugged me back the same way. I whispered in his ear, “I love you, Gerard.” Gerard whispered back, “I love you, too, Hannah.”

I pulled away from the hug to only bring him in for a kiss. This one wasn’t like the others before. The others were passionate yet comforting and magnificent. This was gentle, warm, yet distant. It was still magnificent. We broke the kiss and I hugged him once again. When I got back into the car, I pulled down the window and said while smiling sadly, “Stay awesome, Way.” Gerard giggled a little at that.

I put the car in gear and drove away from Gerard. He had given me everything and for that I was eternally grateful, but I couldn’t help but feel so guilty for leaving. It was true, I wanted to stay with him for forever, but I couldn’t. There were so many things that could and would go wrong or be changed in history and all sorts of crap like from the Back to the Future movies, but did that matter if we were happy? No. I didn’t belong, and it wasn’t fair to anyone except us if I stayed. I wouldn’t say that I regret leaving, but I would say that I would’ve liked to see how it would’ve played out if I stayed. I looked in the rearview mirror to see him still standing where I left him, looking at the car hopefully yet hopelessly all at once. I turned the corner and he now had disappeared from my sight for forever.

I prepped the car to travel back to my time after wiping away tears, but I had no clue as to what I was actually doing so I hoped for the best when I pushed the GO button.


	6. 2001

The car had moved again, and I thought that I had made it entirely back to my time, but I was wrong. I was in a parking lot, and I pulled into a spot and parked. I felt gross in the clothes I was wearing, so I changed into the only other clothes I had. The clothes my dad provided weren't great, but they were something. Being the graceful person, I hit my head twice and my legs at least three times while trying to change in the cramped space. When I got out of the car, I noticed that I was outside a train station. The Hoboken train station to be exact. My initial thought was how weird these trains looked and how old they were in comparison to what I usually saw. I knew that Hoboken was outside of New York City, and since the car had to charge, I decided to go into the city. I hopped on the train and grabbed a seat. Just before the doors were about to close, a man with black hair ran on in the last minute and grabbed a seat of his own.

It looked at him for a moment and realized who it was. I did a double take because it couldn’t possibly be him, but it was. It was Gerard Way: older and slightly taller. He was far enough away that he couldn’t recognize me, and he wasn’t even looking in my direction, so all was well… Sort of.

I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to go up and say something to him. I mean, I left him when he was fifteen and heartbroken. I don’t think that going up to him and saying “Oh yeah, by the way, I’m a time traveller” would be a good thing. I decided that for now, I would keep to myself.

The train had been running for five minutes when a young man with what looked like an ancient portable radio stood up shaking. He bellowed over all the light conversation, “Every one listen up! There have been planes that have crashed into the World Trade Center buildings, and they are burning as we sit here.” He became weak in the knees and sat back down.

Immediately, there was a wave of panic that fell over everyone. I knew what today was. It was September 11, 2001. I knew what was going to happen. The buildings would fall, and America would never be the same again. Some had super old cell phones and tried to call family. Many were crying because they had family in there. I couldn’t help but be upset and sad as well.

The train had finally pulled close to where it would cross the Hudson River, and right on time, at 9:59 AM, all the passengers including myself and Gerard witnessed as the first building fell. My parents were just babies when it happened, so I never really understood the impact that it had on the entire world. So, as I was sat there in the train watching as the world was changing for forever, I broke down. I normally can manage my emotions, but I couldn’t keep anything in. It was absolutely terrifying, horrible, and just straight up disturbing to say the absolute least.

I began to feel myself collapse into a ball of emotions. I tucked my knees up to my chest and held myself whist crying. It was the most terrible moment in my life. I wanted my mom and dad and three sisters, and I wanted to tell them that I loved them. I told myself that I wanted to have kids and get married to a wonderful girl and just make my life worth living.

I remembered what Gerard and I talked about in the park. I thought of him in this time of hideousness, just like I promised, but it didn’t help like I wanted it to. I needed to be held. I couldn’t deal with how I was feeling alone. But I was amongst strangers. Who would be willing-? I knew exactly who. Gerard. He was there so he understands. Who gives a fuck if I’ll confuse the crap out of him? I need him to be there for me, and in return, I can be there for him. I saw where he was sitting in the car of the train. He was sitting five rows away with his head in his hands. When I glanced over to him, he began to stand up.

That’s when I stood up as well. I ran through the car over to where he was. He had his back facing me, so when I walked up to him, I tapped him on the shoulder as lightly as possible. He turned around, and before he could even say anything or recognize whom I was, I ran into his torso and gripped him in a tight hug. It was exactly what I needed at that moment.

He was confused at first as to why a blonde teenage girl he didn’t know was gripping him tight, but he accepted the hug and began to hug me back. He knew well enough why I needed the hug. He held me for as long as I needed and didn’t question it. When I finally pulled away, I was crying and had left marks on his shirt. He didn’t seem to care about them.

“Thank you,” I finally managed. “I need that so badly, especially because I’m alone on this train.” When he wouldn’t reply, I realized what I had done. He recognized me for sure. There was no doubting it. Gerard froze for a moment in shock and then proceeded to ask, “Is your name Hannah?”

Oh shit.

I wiped away a tear and said awfully rudely, “Who the hell is Hannah?” His face fell, but he obviously had a twinge of disbelief in him. “I’m sorry,” Gerard said. “That was insensitive and really just horrible of me at a time like this. Please, sit.”

I sat next to him on the train. I rested my head on his shoulder, and he seemed to be okay with it. We sat silently and listened to what others were saying on the train. Many people talked about getting married and having kids and pursuing dreams, and others talked about divorce and never having kids and much worse.

I finally looked up at Gerard and asked, “What does this mean?” He thought about it for a moment before finally saying, “It means that world won’t be the same. It will change the world as well as the lives of many others out there.”

I ended up saying, “I want to do something with my life to change the world for the better.” For once, I wasn’t lying to Gerard. I really meant it. I wanted to do something with my life that would make the world a better place. From where I came, the world is magnificent and shitty at the same time, and I now wanted to make it completely magnificent and nothing else. After a moment, I added, “Don’t you?”

Gerard pondered on that question and reached a decision. He turned to face me to say what he said next. “For my entire life, art was my passion. I wanted to be an artist, and I actually was. This train was supposed to take me to my crappy job where I would do my art. But I’ve had a not so secret love and passion, and it is music. I’ve always loved music, too. And now, I want to do something with music to make a difference.” He paused. “Could it work? Should I go for it? I mean, I barely know you… I think… but I feel like your opinion is as good as anyone’s.”

I nodded my head. “This is your time,” I said honestly. “You now have the power to change the world. Go out there and do it.” Gerard smiled sadly and held out a hand to be shaken. “I’m Gerard,” he said as if I needed an introduction. I needed a name, so I pulled one out of my ass. “Fiona,” I said shaking his hand.

“You look like someone I used to know… isn’t that something?” Gerard said. I nodded my head and replied, “Yeah.” For the majority of the rest of the train journey, we sat in silence.

Everyone on the trains was shuttled back to the stations where the got on so that they could go home, or as far from the tragedy as possible. I held Gerard’s hand on the way back, and we would rarely say something to each other. I needed him as support at that moment, and I think he needed someone, too. We needed someone, either a stranger or a friend or both to be there.

When we finally got off the trains at the same station, we stopped to say our goodbyes. “Thank you for everything Gerard. It meant so much to me that you were willing to be there.”

Gerard gave another sad smile and said, “Thank YOU for being there. On a day like this, everyone needs someone.”

We hugged and went our separate ways. As he began to walk in his direction and I in mine, I turned around and yelled, “Gerard!” He turned around to see what I wanted to say. “Go change the world!” At that he smiled sadly again and continued on his way home.

I walked to the car and opened the door to the driver’s seat. I got in and took a deep breath. What a fucking day. I was so exhausted that I drove to a parking lot somewhere nearby and took a nap.

\- - -

When I woke up, it was dark outside, so I guessed correctly that my nap had gone on for quite some time. I read the clock and it said that it was 9:27 PM. Though in theory, I should have gone to sleep then, I actually pulled out the manual to this crazy contraption I was sitting in. I skimmed through the first couple of pages that had all the welcome crap, and I got right to how I could control what time I landed in. It said that there was a way to adjust the settings so that I arrived at the exact time down to the minute and place. There was also a manual for this probe-looking that my dad threw onto my lap right before I zapped into the past. I taught myself how to use it to hack into ATMs because that was obviously the most important thing that this wand could do. Once I had finally managed to figure out the important uses of everything I had to my disposal, I set off again.


	7. 2006

I set the time to 1:22 PM January 23, 2006, and the place to New York, NY, and I had the most devious plan ever. I had a time machine to myself! Why not use it, right? So, I decided that I was going to visit Gerard in other points in his life, and I decided that the next time I would meet him would be right before the Black Parade was created. I ended up landing in some street in New York. I drove around the city for almost half an hour to find a parking lot or garage or something. Finally, I found one. Lucky for me, I could pay before I left, which meant I could get the money I needed.

I walked out of the garage and headed toward the train station. I knew that Gerard would be commuting back and forth from New York working on the Black Parade album. So, I decided I would meet him on the train. The only issue with that is that I have already seen him twice, and I’ve looked the same those two times. I had to do something drastic to change my appearance, but what?

After taking out $850 dollars out from a random ATM, I started again for the train station. I was walking down the sidewalk when I noticed a hair salon. That was exactly what I needed. I went inside to find three ladies working there. Well, only one of them was cutting hair at the moment, but still.

The woman who was sitting farthest back from the door, which chimed as I walked in, bellowed, “Need something, hon?” to which I replied, “How much for dying hair purple?”

All three ladies looked at each other and then back at me like I was absolutely insane. I made a “what?” face and finally the one farthest from the door walked up to me and evaluated my hair. “It’s gonna’ be damaged,” she said matter-of-factly, but I was okay with it, so I said, “Yup, that’s fine.”

The woman, whose name happed to be Patrice, sat me down to start bleaching my hair. The process took a while, but afterward, my hair was platinum blonde. After the bleach, Patrice added the purple to my hair. The other two ladies looked at Patrice’s work and were very impressed. When it was finally done, I got to see how I looked.

I looked at myself in the mirror and didn’t even recognize myself. Purple! I absolutely loved and hugged every single one of those ladies. I ended up leaving a $100 tip in addition to the price of the coloring. I finally left the hair salon and continued my way to the train station. While I was walking, I thought to myself if what I was doing was wrong. ‘Is it wrong for me to be fucking with him like this? Should I just go back to my own time? What am I even doing? What if I change history for the worse? What if?’

I told myself not to worry. I knew that as long as I didn’t do anything drastic, everything would be okay. Besides, I was only going to talk to him. What could that do?

I was very close to the train station when I decided that it would be a good idea to grab a new outfit and maybe sunglasses. Luckily, there was a tiny boutique nearby that had everything I needed. I dumped the crappy clothes I had been wearing and put on my new outfit. It was actually kind of awesome, and I made a mental note to keep them for when I finally got back. To finish my look, I put on a beanie and a pair of mirrored sunglasses so you couldn’t see my eyes. Everything was perfect.

I paid for my ticket and waited to get on the right train. I waited for a long while, and a number of trains came and went, but I wasn’t going to board until Gerard appeared. Eventually, he came running for the train that was currently stopped, and I slipped in right behind him. I found a chair in the middle of the car, and Gerard sat hear the door. Besides Gerard, me, and other commuters, I noticed that there was also a huge crowd of kids that were my age on the train. They were loud, obnoxious, and taking up way more space than needed. Because of the teenagers, the man that was sat next to Gerard got up and moved. His disgusted amused me greatly.

Before some other shitty teen could grab that seat, I got up and slid into the bench. Gerard didn’t notice or acknowledge it. At least this time, he didn’t recognize me. I knew that I had to be the one to strike up conversation because he obviously wasn’t.

I turned my head a little to look at him, and because I was staring for too long, Gerard looked at me. I quickly turned my head away so I wouldn’t seem too rude. I probably annoyed him. I finally turned toward him again and said, “Hi.” It took Gerard a second to realize it was him that I was talking to, but eventually, he turned slightly and said confusedly, “Hi?”

“I know who you are,” I said smirking slightly. Gerard was famous enough at this point that people would know who he was if they ran into him, so I wasn’t being a total creeper or anything. “You’re Gerard Way, right?” I finally asked.

“Yeah, yeah I am,” he said. I decided that I was going to fangirl a little to make it seem like I was not myself. “Wow,” I said, “it’s SUCH an honor to meet you, because I absolutely LOVE My Chemical Romance. ‘Deathwish’ is probably my favorite song.” Gerard smiled slightly, but he was obviously tired, so he wasn’t being outgoing, which I understood. “Thanks, that’s really cool,” he said plainly.

“I don’t want an autograph or a picture or anything, it’s cool,” I blurted after an awkward minute of silence. “But it’s so cool to meet you.” Gerard nodded to show that he acknowledged what I said.

I decided that I wasn’t going to say anything until I could think of something interesting. In that silence, which wasn’t really silence at all, the roar that was the voices of the other teens on the train grew louder and louder. Gerard and I were both looking at them, because they all stuck out like a sore thumb. I bumped shoulders with Gerard and said, “Ugh, they are so obnoxious.”

“I agree,” Gerard replied simply. I continued by saying, “I dunno, I guess I don’t really understand my own generation, you know?” Then I tried being clever. “Generally, teenagers scare the living shit out of me, you know? Even though I am one…”

“I do,” Gerard said more interested this time. “In my case, I’m beginning to fall out of touch, if that makes sense.” To that I replied, “Yeah, I get it.”

We both sat quietly for a moment until Gerard turned to me again and said, “I really like your hair. It’s a cool color.” I smiled and thanked him. I also added, “You know, you should dye your whole head. That would be so cool!” I already knew he would, but why not provide some encouragement? Gerard chuckled slightly at that idea. “Yeah maybe,” he said.

But I wasn’t done. “What about white? Like super… paper white? Or maybe even red? That would be really cool, don’t you think?” Gerard looked at me and smiled. “It would be pretty cool, thanks.” I made myself blush a little and said, “Oh well sure, you’re welcome.” I giggled to add to the fangirl persona I was trying to create.

I felt as though I had made good use of this visit with Gerard, so I decided to get off at the next station. I had to get off the train sooner or later because I had to go back to the car. When the train approached the station, I stood up and turned to Gerard one last time, but my glasses fell off my face. “Here, I’ll get them,” Gerard offered while bending down. I let him get them for me, but when he handed them to me and looked up at me, he stopped.

Oh shit.

He faltered while giving me my glasses, but he never broke eye contact. “Umm, here you go,” he said. I had to pretend that nothing at all was wrong, so I nonchalantly thanked him. “Well, it was great to meet you, and I can’t wait for the next album!” I shook his hand, and headed for the door. Quietly behind me, Gerard mumbled, “Nice to meet you, too.”

I got off the train at last, but Gerard was still looking at me through the window. I casually waved, and he waved back as if he had no control over his hand. After what felt like forever, the train finally left. I sighed with relief because all of that could have gone so much worse than it actually did.

I bought my ticket to go back into the city, and after finally reaching my car, I got in, set the clock to the next date that I would see Gerard, and set off yet again.


End file.
